Sunday, May 25, 2008

After my last lovely rant, I just wanted to say thanks so much to all of you that have commented and emailed. You ROCK my world. It's been so awesome and inspiring hearing from all of you old friends and new! I'm still taking names for the drawing, so don't forget to comment or email me and let me know you want in. Word?

You guys are great- thanks for checking in and for helping to raise awareness! You are going to totally dig this Too Faced stuff. No, seriously.

Now if I can get Nine West to donate some quality shoes that somehow help prevent UV exposure, we will be SO SET!

Let's not even go into what a spit in my face this postcard is.I could go into the facts, but I have a feeling you're not reading this blog.

I will say hope that you are very, very young and naive. Otherwise you could be throwing a year of your life away to a horrible, painful treatment. Or you could be throwing your entire life away for --- wait for it--- a trend.That's right.The equivalent of dieing for a mullet.Or a slap bracelet.Or any number of other bad fads.

It's called spray-on, and you'll live if it's uneven.

-MM

What a sad, simple life you must lead.

And for those of you who do pride yourself on being more informed, I'll present the facts. Tell your friends! And even idiots you despise like the one above who made the postcard.

The facts:*Skin cancer is the #1 diagnosed cancer, and the third most commonly diagnosed cancer among women 2o-39 years of age.*More than 90% of skin cancer is caused by sun and tanning bed exposure.*Each hour, one person dies from skin cancer.*One in 5 people will be diagnosed with it.*One in 41 men and one in 61 women will develop melanoma in their lifetime.*The rate of melanoma, the deadliest form of skin cancer, has more than doubled between 1973 and 1996.*Melanoma is more common than any non-skin cancer among people between 25 and 29 years old.*An estimated 7,400 deaths from melanoma and 2,200 from other skin cancers were expected in 2002 and more than 7,800 died from melanoma alone.*The death rate from melanoma for men is almost twice that of women due to late detection *Melanoma is now the fastest growing cancer in the U.S. here have been no significant advances in the medical treatment or survival rate in the last 30 years.* One blistering sunburn in childhood or adolescence more than doubles a person's chances of developing melanoma later in life.* Exposure to tanning beds before age 35 increases melanoma risk by 75 percent.* On an average day, more than one million Americans use tanning salons.* New high-pressure sunlamps emit doses of UVR that can be as much as 12 times that of the sun.

And for our finale....*In women 25-29, melanoma is the primary cause of cancer death, and in women 30-34 it is the second most common cause of cancer death.*In the U.S. your chance of getting melanoma in 1940 was 1 in 1500. By 2004, it was 1 in 67. By 2010, scientists predict it will be 1 in 50.*The incidence of melanoma has increased 690 percent from 1950 to 2001, and the overall mortality rate increased 165 percent during this same period.*If caught in the earliest stages, melanoma is entirely treatable with a survival rate of nearly 100%. If untreated and allowed to spread, there is no known treatment or cure.Doctors don't regularly screen for melanoma and patients often find their own so go to our "Examine Your Skin" page to do yours NOW!What to watch for: A change in size, shape or color. The features of change to watch for in moles are the A, B, C, D and E’s of detection. Asymmetry — Two halves of a lesion that are not the sameBorder — Borders of a lesion are irregular, scalloped or vagueColor — Color varies from one area to another, including shades of tan or brown as well as black, blue, red and whiteDiameter — A lesion that is greater than 6 millimeters in diameter, about the size of a pencil eraserEvolution — Lesions that change or evolve, or is ELEVATED or raised above the skin and has a rough surfaceYou should also watch for the following skin changes:A mole that bleedsA fast-growing moleA scaly or crusted growth on the skinA sore that won't healA mole that itchesA place on your skin that feels rough, like sandpaper

Monday, May 19, 2008

OMG! Have you heard of Too Faced Cosmetics? Well, if you haven't, you are just SO lucky to hear about them today. First, let me say this: any cosmetic company that develops a kit with Good Girl/Bad Girl palettes is right up my alley. They have INCREDIBLE products like Lash Injections, Eye Gems, Glamour Shadow, the Hopeless Romantic Quickie kit, and Extreme Lip Injection, that will make you poop your pants- for real- and coming from a girl who listed mascara as the #1 item she would take with her to a desert island, that is serious. But, get this, more importantly, this company rocks my socks because it has given over 1 Million dollars in donated funds for research to the Melanoma Research Foundation! (Tell me the last time you heard about Covergirl doing that sh*t. )

That's right- and I quote "Inspired by Lisa Blandino, Too Faced creator Jerrod Blandino’s sister, who is battling skin cancer comes this beauty kit with a heart of golden pink. A gorgeous collection of four exclusive eye shadows two lip glosses and one big ol’ duo face shimmer all in shades of pink and gold. And did we mention a fat chunk of the proceeds benefit the Melanoma Research Foundation? See you can be pretty and thoughtful!"

How completely fabulous is that? You KNOW you want it! And the good news is, a lovely and talented friend of mine who actually works for Too Faced has donated these cute little items just to help raise awareness! So tell your friends! And your friends' friends! Just comment here today or email me and I will put your name in the hat for these 2 free adorable, fabulous kits that I will totally send to you if you win the drawing! It's just here on Miss Melanoma kids- don't miss out! Enter today! Just a few more exclamation points!!! I'm so freakin' perky about all this it's like I'm Skin Cancer Awareness Barbie! But I can't help myself! Yay!

Friday, May 16, 2008

I sit down to write, and the truth is- it's difficult to.I think to myself, why is this so difficult? You love to write. You write all the time.Except, my voice says, you really don't. You only REALLY write when you feel connected.

And the big ball drops in my stomach.And the guilt wells up in my chest.

Haven't we been over this already? We figured this out already. It's already ready already.

It's like all those movies we love: Jerry McGuire and Pretty Woman and Bridget Jones, but in all those movies it's a traditional 3 parts: the set up, the conflict, the nice and neat wrap up. Nice and neat with no strings left dangling, 2 hours and everything is resolved.And I don't have to say that life isn't really like that, because we all know that already.

I heard someone say today that the love we hold back in this life is the only pain that follows you when it's over and you pass to the other side. It's tough to think that- that in those moments when I think, "just say it," and I'm fighting the instinct to be vulnerable- that all those moments are the ones that will follow me after death.

Allow me to just state the obvious here: life is messy and just like my day today, never wrapped up nice and neat. And the truth is, as much as I hate to admit it, I face my fears every time I sit down to write this blog, because to write it is to revisit what I thought I was already over.

I'm not over it.

I revisit cancer fears, and fears of morality, and the hatred I have that my body is so vulnerable, and the pain that I feel whenever I think about how my leg will never be the same. I refuse to work out most days because it's so hard for me to mentally deal with the physical pain that I fear will be there for the rest of my life. The limits that I don't want to be there.

And then, like American Beauty, I tell myself to just breathe. And to stop fighting. And to just realize how awesome this one little tiny moment right now is.

And right now is a good moment.

I have so few free moments these days- but there are 11 school days left so there is hope that I'll get back to posting regularly.

But instead of getting all wrapped up in that, let me just throw out the old adage that every moment is the most important moment of our lives, so as I write you and bid you goodnight, I send out gratitude that there are those of you still hanging in there and reading this blog and that I can share that gratitude with you.

For now, goodnight.-MM

"One good thing to remember is that giving thanks- expressing gratitude- generates growth. And one way to ensure that your growth is easy, effortless, touched by grace, is to be grateful for the difficult circumstances and situations in your life. The harder it gets, the more grateful you should become. The more painful you believe it is, the more grateful you can become. And one way is to simply affirm in the midst of your difficulty and darkness I can hardly wait to see the good that will come forth from this experience, and for the strength to endure to the end, I am so grateful." - IyanlaVanzant

Imerman Angels

In Loving Memory of

When we honestly ask ourselves which person in our lives mean the most to us, we often find that it is those who, instead of giving advice, solutions, or cures, have chosen rather to share our pain and touch our wounds with a warm and tender hand. The friend who can be silent with us in a moment of despair or confusion, who can stay with us in an hour of grief and bereavement, who can tolerate not knowing, not curing, not healing and face with us the reality of our powerlessness, that is a friend who cares.- Henri Nouwen